The youth should take the lead in providing solutions to environmental issues such as flooding and re-greening as they are “the generation that will literally inherit the planet in the next few decades.”
This is what Rizal 2nd District Rep. Fidel Nograles said as he along with more than 1,000 youth from Montalban embarked on the third leg of the Save Our Forests Now initiative.
“It is alarming that in surveys, the environment is not an urgent concern among our countrymen.”
More than 1,000 bamboo saplings were planted along the river- and mountain-side of Wawa in Brgy. San Rafael, Montalban town on Saturday, May 29th.
“Our target for the 4th leg is to conduct a simultaneous planting in the district. Tapos mula doon, palalakihin natin para maging pambansang kilusan ito ng mga kabataang eco-warriors,” the neophyte lawmaker said.
According to the lawyer, “it is alarming that in surveys, the environment is not an urgent concern among our countrymen.”
“But it is clear that with the supertyphoons that constantly pummel us, the rising waters around our coastal towns, and the various threats to our ecosystems, that the environment and climate change should be one of our nation’s top priorities,” stressed the solon.
“Kung hindi kikilos ang kabataan para sa environment, sino? Kung hindi ngayon, kailan pa?”
Nograles added that his office is currently working on the logistics and operational issues for the planned district-wide simultaneous planting.
He said that besides coordinating with agencies such as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to identify areas that need to be “re-greened”, they will also engage youth and environment-oriented groups to come up with volunteers for the activity.
Save Our Forests now was launched in December 2020 in the wake of Typhoon Ulysses, which inundated various towns in Rizal, as well as other parts of the country, in November.
The solon lauded the students who have so far participated in Save Our Forest Now’s activities, commending them for their idealism and their sense of social responsibility.
“Their enthusiasm is reassuring. Patunay ito na napakarami sa ating kabataan ang handang kumilos para sa bayan at kapwa. We have to tap into their voluntary spirit if we are to make national re-greening a success,” said the lawmaker.
“Hindi lang batas, kundi pagkukusa, ang susi sa tagumpay.”
Save Our Forests now was launched in December 2020 in the wake of Typhoon Ulysses, which inundated various towns in Rizal, as well as other parts of the country, in November.